Spirit Exchange
by question61
Summary: Halloween Fic. Xander's Halloween costume is more trouble than he thought it would be. And why is he the voice in his head?


**Spirit Exchange**

Disclaimer: I own neither Buffy the Vampire Slayer nor Stargate SG-1. Woe is me.

Xander was skipping class by hiding out in the library. Giles was off at a staff meeting so Xander was sure that he wouldn't mind him using the library as a hide-out as long as he did not know about it. However, it wasn't like he was being unproductive with his time since he was doing something in the library that he usually tried to avoid like the plague: research. The unfortunate event that forced Xander to such extremes occurred earlier in the day when Snyder had managed to coerce Buffy, Willow and him into 'volunteering' to take some tykes out trick-or-treating.

Xander was not entirely adverse to extorting candy from various people around town so he was not completely dreading the experience. However, due to the fact that his drunken father couldn't spare any cash for things other than alcohol, the attic roof had sprung a leak over the summer.

All the clothing in the attic had gotten wet and since an attic is a mold growing factory, everything, including the soldier's uniform that he would have used for tonight, were growing six different types of fungi. Even though Cordelia might say otherwise, he did have some fashion sense…or maybe it was just hygiene.

Thus, Xander was now pouring over old, dusty tomes, mostly looking at the pictures, to try to find a good and inexpensive Halloween costume. So far, most of the books Xander had come across had pictures of demons who would eat a person's liver. He refused to represent anything that listed humans as the main course, especially vampires and certainly not Angel. It just would not be right to dress up like a bad guy. People might think that he actually supported their views or something.

He already had a pile of old tomes beside him on the table that had proven to be worthless since they either had no pictures (hey, he wasn't a walking dictionary like G-man) or they contained only evil demons. He then came across a volume that had been translated into Latin from an old Egyptian text. From what little he could understand with a pocket Latin-to-English dictionary, it told a story about some minor gods that decided to rebel against Ra because of how he treated the humans. There was even a picture that depicted one of these beings having a showdown with Ra. He noted in the footnote of the picture that the name of the being was listed as well. This was perfect! He would be dressed as this being that fought against The Man and could kick Angel's butt any day. He did not think it would be too hard to replicate the clothing since it consisted of mostly brown pants, a light brown cloak and this weird hand weapon thingy that shot out a beam of light.

He had the pants and he was sure that he could make the hand device out of tinfoil or something. All he needed were some fake jewels for the weapon and a cloak. He hoped he could get the costume cheap at the new place that had opened up in town. There had been flyers around town for a week advertising the new shop. Hopefully it would be cheaper than Partytown.

***

After school let out, Xander, Willow and Buffy all headed to Ethan's to get a costume. Buffy kept talking the whole way to the shop about how she wanted something that would impress Angel. Xander could barely keep from gagging the whole entire way.

Once they entered the shop, Xander headed straight for the knickknacks to try to find the odds and ends that he needed to complete his costume. He easily found a gaudy red gem to use on the weapon and now he only needed a cloak.

A few isles away Buffy and Willow were gushing over an overdone pink dress that had far too many layers of fabric to be practical. Even if Halloween was supposed to be a quiet night like the G-man said, Xander could not help but think that the dress would be next to impossible to fight in.

He got distracted when he spotted the perfect cloak for his costume but when he read the price tag, his heart plummeted. It would never fit within his budget and it looked as if his whole idea was about to go up in smoke.

"Could I help you" was the next thing Xander heard and nearly gave him a heart attack.

"Don't sneak up on a guy like that!"

"I'm sorry, my name is Ethan and I am the owner of this shop. I saw you admiring the cloak and I was wondering if you wanted to purchase it."

Xander sighed and then looked longingly at the cloak but he knew there was no way that he could afford it.

"No, it's out of my price range, but maybe I'll have enough time to go back to G-man's library to figure out a new costume."

"G-man?"

"Giles, he's British just like you."

"Do you mean Rupert Giles? He's an old friend of mine."

"Yeah, wow it must be a small world after all."

"Indeed it is, well if you know my old chum Rupert then I'm sure I can give you a bargain as long as you tell everyone about my shop."

"Sure, how much would you charge?"

"I'm sure I could sell it to you for eight dollars."

"Sold!"

While it was a little more than he had originally planned to spend and even though the guy, Ethan, was a little creepy, Xander really wanted to wear this particular costume so he decided to splurge.

***

It took a couple of hours for Xander to get ready since he had to make the weapon, but once he had it on, he was quite proud of how he had pulled the costume together in such a short period of time.

By the time he arrived at the school with Buffy dressed in the gown and Willow as a ghost he was not as enthusiastic, especially when he was confronted by Larry.

"What is that thing on your arm? Is it made out of tinfoil? You are such a dork." He taunted.

Xander wanted to deny that the weapon was dorky but even he had to admit to himself that Larry might be a little bit right. He would vigorously argue though that this was by such a small percentage as to be non-existent.

Feeling a bit down, he trudged over to the kids he had been assigned to but once he saw how excited they were to be getting free candy he quickly began to tell them about the best ways to get the most candy.

His group headed out and they spent several hours traipsing around Sunnydale gathering as much sugary goodness as possible and plotting tricks for when they received apples or toothbrushes. Xander was starting to have a really great time when he felt a wave of magic rush over him and everything went black.

***

Martouf woke up to one of the strangest sights he had ever seen. There was complete chaos with humans and non-human life forms running all over the place. The last thing he could remember was lying in Samantha's arms at the SGC dying because it turned out he was za'tarc and tried to kill the President of the United States.

_Martouf, are you okay?_

_I am fine Lantash, but why am I alive?_

_I do not know Martouf. I have never experienced something like this before in all my years. It seems that we are on some primitive planet though that is just beginning to develop technology._

_I agree. Do you think that the Goa'uld might have something to do with this?_

_I am not sure._

At this point both Martouf and Lantash were pulled out of their musings by a yell behind them.

"Xander! Thank goodness you are okay. Some real Hellmouthiness stuff is going on right now."

"It seems you have the wrong person. My name is Martouf, I do not know anyone named Xander."

"Oh no, you've been affected by whatever is going on too! We have to find Buffy, she'll know what to do!"

At this point, the girl tried to grab Martouf's arm, but she went right through it.

"What did you just do!?" Martouf asked while Lantash was theorizing that the girl might be utilizing some sort of phase shifting technology.

"Well, I dressed up as a ghost for Halloween andnowireallyamaghost!"

While it took a few seconds for him to decipher what she had said, he understood her because of the many different cultures that he had dealt with in the past, some of who spoke even faster than this girl. While he was a little doubtful of her claim, it was not inconceivable that some sort of technology had been used on this town to create the chaos that was occurring.

"Okay, can you tell me where we are?"

"We're in Sunnydale, California."

"You mean that you are one of the Tau'ri and that we are on Earth?"

"I don't know what you mean by Tau'ri but yes we are on Earth and we really should find Buffy."

"Very well, I will follow you."

***

When they found Buffy, it did not seem that she have a grasp over the situation that the girl, Willow, had claimed she would have. In fact, she acted as if she was even more panicked than Willow screaming "demon" whenever a car drove by. He quickly got her calmed down and they headed to what Willow said was Buffy's house, though the woman who clung to his arm claimed that she did not know where she was and that she would not listen to anything that a harlot said.

He gently quieted her protests and they headed to shelter. Once they entered the house, he noticed a woman running from a large beast. He quickly raised his arm and used the hand device to stun the beast (though he had no clue how he had procured one since when he had been at the SGC, he did not have one).

"Quickly, get inside" he ordered as he pulled her into the house.

"Get your hands off me" she protested.

Willow quickly sought to diffuse the situation. "Xander doesn't know who he is and you are not a cat. You're a human named Cordelia."

"Uh yeah, have you gone crazy because of course I am not a cat and why does loser here not know who he is?"

"Some people who dressed up in costumes actually turned into who they dressed as. Xander now believes that he is a guy named Martouf."

"So the dork actually went crazy!"

"No! He just became his costume, just like Buffy. Now I'm going to go get Giles. He should be able to fix this." With that she ran through the wall, headed towards the library.

***

While the two girls had their conversation, Martouf decided to withdraw so he could discuss the situation with Lantash. He had noticed in a mirror that he no longer had the features that he used to have.

_It seems that the girl was telling the truth when she said we were not who we thought we were._

_I would have to agree. I feel uncomfortable though in a host that has been taken against his will. I can sense him but I cannot make contact with him at this point. What has happened goes against everything that the Tok'ra stand for._

_I agree with you. I also fear that I might still be under the influence of the Goa'uld._

_There is nothing that we can do right now, Martouf. I do not believe that we should contact the SGC yet though. We may be in a different dimension and we do not know how the SGC, if it even exists, would react to our presence. We also have no way to contact the rest of the Tok'ra at this time._

They were interrupted when a man entered through the kitchen.

"You're all okay. I was worried with all the chaos going on outside."

"Who are you?" Martouf asked.

"Well…I am Angel…you don't know me do you…" he said as he realized that the people he knew did not know him.

"That is correct. My name is Martouf and I must know who you are" he kept his hand device ready in case the man turned out to be hostile.

"I am a friend of Buffy's."

At this point, Buffy interrupted, "I do not know you sir, nor would I be a friend with a man such as you."

"Look, you are his friend" said Cordelia. She then turned to Angel. "They got turned into their costumes and now they have no clue as to who they are. Buffy has been such a pain the whole time."

"I have not been any sort of 'pain' as you so lowly put it you whore. I am a lady and sirs, my father would pay you both well if you returned me to my home. This shack that the harlot left me at is not my home!"

"She's been like this the whole time. Maybe we can leave Angel and go somewhere else."

Suddenly, a monster entered from the kitchen and threw itself at Angel. Buffy and Cordelia screamed and the two huddled into a corner. Angel's face morphed into its demonic form and Buffy and Cordelia both screamed again. Buffy was about to run off, but Cordelia grabbed her before she could run off alone.

Martouf and Lantash were both surprised when Angel's face morphed into what could only be described as a fictional Tau'ri monster. Already stressed, their eyes glowed briefly and then they used the hand device to blast the invading monster away. The monster decided that the prey it had chosen was too difficult to subdue and fled through the kitchen door. Martouf then grabbed Angel and slammed him into the wall.

"What are you?" he demanded.

"I am a vampire." Angel replied when he saw that he could not fib his way out of the situation.

"Are you here to harm any of us?"

"No, I have a soul. I would never kill an innocent human. I should also ask what you are. No normal human has eyes that glow."

Martouf did not entirely trust the vampire before him. The stories that he had heard about vampires did not make him favorably inclined towards the being in front of him. After a few moments he warily released Angel from his grip and then backed away keeping himself between Angel and the two women.

"My eyes glowed because I am a Tok'ra. A Tok'ra is a symbiote that lives in harmony with its human host, both receiving benefits from the blending. I do not trust you entirely vampire, but if you do nothing to harm anyone, then I shall reserve my judgment."

Cordelia then butted in, her voice wavering slightly, "You mean there is more than one person in you?"

Martouf lowered his head to allow Lantash to come forward. "My name is Lantash, and I am the symbiote that Martouf speaks of. I mean you no harm."

"Woah. Weird voice." Cordelia muttered.

Buffy, however, was hysterical, trying to pull from Cordelia's grasp.

"Unhand me you whore. I must get away from the demon and the man who is possessed. Get back you demons. My brother is a priest and he shall exorcize you both!"

She finally wiggled free of Cordelia's hands but when she tried to run out the door, Martouf was there to catch her. When this happened, she fainted.

***

For the rest of the night, everyone tried to stay as far away from each other as possible. Buffy did not awake from her faint, which was probably fortunate since they did not have to listen to her rant or stop her from trying to make another escape attempt. Martouf and Angel watched each other with suspicion from across opposite sides of the room while Cordelia huddled beside the couch where Buffy lay. As she was at this point, the worst thing that Buffy could do to her at this point was call her a whore again.

After a few hours of everyone dancing around each other, Martouf felt a wave of energy pass through his body and it made him feel slightly groggy. Buffy woke up and pulled a wig off her head that used to be real hair.

"Ugh, what happened?" she complained.

"You were Miss Useless the whole night" Cordelia said, "and I didn't know you were serious when you told me that Angel really was a vampire."

Martouf was confused. Whatever had caused the costumes to change had been reversed if Buffy was anything to go by. Why was he still here? At this point he heard a voice in his head that explained it all.

_What the hell happened!_


End file.
